Pull toy



Jun 11, 1957 H; F. CAVANAGH 2,7

PULL TOY Filed Jan., 7. 1955 28 7 l6 INVENTOR.

flEPBET E C 414M446 F G. 5. BY

Wwrfl? PULL TOY 7 Herbert F. Cavanagh, Brookville, N. Y. Application January 7, 1955, S ra-1 No. 480,528 2 claims. it (Cl. 16 103) This invention relates to a pull toy.

An object of the invention is to provide a pull toy in the form of a train of toy figures with one of more of the rearwardly arranged toy figures having movement toward and away from the foremost toy figure during the movement of the toy.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pull toy consisting of a train of rollable members which is attractive and amusing to children as the same simulates the movement of small animals such as ducklings toward and away from a mother duck with the movement of the toy over a supporting surface.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pull toy of said character in which the reannost toy figures are connected with the foremost toy figure by a cord which is alternately wound on a spool carried by the foremost figure and released therefrom to provide movement of the rearmost figure toward and away from the foremost figure with the rolling movement of the toy over a supporting surface.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, reference is now made to the following specification and accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a view in elevation of a pull toy consisting of a plurality of toy figures constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the foremost figure showing the mechanism for effecting the winding and unwinding of the flexible element connecting the foremost toy figures.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken approximately on line 33' of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the toy consists of a train of toy figures which are rollably mounted for movement thereof over a supporting surface. The toy figures may be of any desired character and may, as illustrated, include a large toy figure such as the figure representing a mother duck which is arranged as the foremost figure and the trailing toy figures 11 and 12 may be smaller toy figures representing ducklings. The toy figures are connected together in train formation by means of a flexible element 13 between the foremost toy figure 10 and the trailing figure 11, and a flexible element 14 connecting the trailing figures 11 and 12 together. The toy may be moved over a supporting surface in any desired manner such as by a cord 15 connected with the foremost toy figure 10.

The foremost toy figure 10 is mounted for rolling movement on front and rear wheels 16 and 17, the front wheels 16 being affixed to the outer ends of a cross shaft 18 mounted for turning movement in bearing openings 19 in the side walls 20 of the figure with the shaft 18 extending laterally across an elongated rectangular recess 21 in the under side of the figure and which opens through the bottom face thereof. The rear wheels 17 are aflixed to the ends of a cross shaft 22 mounted for turning movement in bearingopenings 23 ,in the sidewalls 20 of the ice Y figure with the cross shaft 22.,arranged in parallel relation with the crossvshaft 18.

Alfixed to the cross shaftsvare gears 24 and 25 respectively over whichvis trained a fiexible'member such as an endless belt 26 having longitudinally spaced teeth 27 on the inner periphery thereof-which engage the teeth of the. gears for eflecting movement of the belt with the rolling movement of the toy figure. Adjacent the gean25 is a spool 29jaffixed to a cross shaft 30 which, is mounted for turning movement on a cross shaft 31 aflixed to the side walls 20 of the figure with the spool 29 located in alignment with an opening 32 in the rear wall 33 of the figure. The belt 26 is provided with means on a portion of the outer surface thereof adapted to periodically engage the shaft 30 for effecting rotation thereof with the movement of the belt. The aforesaid means may consist of a strip of flexible material 28 such as compressible rubber, felt and the like which is secured to the outer surface thereof and extends approximately half the length of the belt. The strip 28 engages against the periphery of the shaft 30 to eflect turning thereof with the movement of the belt, it being understood that the remaining portion of the belt 26 will move past the shaft 30 without effecting rotation thereof and will permit of relative movement of the belt and the spool 29.

The flexible element 13 which may be a cord or the like is affixed at its forward end to the periphery of the spool 29 whereby the cord will be wound on the spool with the rotation thereof in a clockwise direction by the moving strip 28 engaging the shaft 30. This will cause the cord 13 to shorten so as to pull the ducklings 11 and 12 toward the mother duck 10 so as to create the appearance that the ducklings are endeavoring to catch up with the mother duck. When, however, the strip 28 is out of engagement with the shaft 30 the forward movement of the mother duck will eflect the turning of the spool 29 in a counter-clockwise direction due to the pull of the cord 13 so as to unwind the same therefrom and lengthen the distance between the mother duck and the duckling 11. This will create the appearance that the ducklings are slowing up in their forward movement and are falling back from the mother duck.

The ducklings 11 and 12 may be rollably supported in any desired manner such as by the rollable elements 34 and 35 respectively and when the toy is rolled over a supporting surface, the ducklings 11 and 12 will move up toward the mother duck and then fall backward therefrom, which movement toward and away from the mother duck will be continuously repeated.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, it is to be under stood that the same is not so limited but shall cover and include any and all modifications thereof which fall within the purview of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy, a plurality of toy figures arranged in train formation, said figures having rollable members rollably supporting the figures for movement over a supporting surface, cross shafts journaled for rotation in the foremost toy figure and to which the rollable members thereof are aflixed, a spool mounted on a shaft rotatably carried by the foremost toy figure, a flexible element afiixed to a trailing toy figure and to said spool for connecting said toy figures in train formation an endless belt trained about said first mentioned cross shafts and having means periodically engaging and disengaging said spool shaft for turning the same and permitting of free rotation of said spool when said means is out of engagement with said spool shaft to thereby effect the successive winding of the flexible element on said spool and the unwinding thereof from said-spookso'as-to'move the traiiing figure movement of the toy over the supporting surface.

2, In a..p ull ,toy a piuralitypf toy figures arranged in train, formation, said figures, having rgllahl e members rollably supporting the figuresrfor movement overa sup} porting surface, arspool: afiig ed itoga eross shaft rotatably carriedby theforemosttoy figure a flexible element af-.

fixedito a trailing toy figure and to said spool'for connect winding said flexible element on said sp oo1.and p ermit-1 ting of the free rotation of said spool to allow the flexible-element to unwind from said spool wh e11 said means is out of engagement with said shaft to thereby effect the movement of the trailing figure toward and away from the foremost figure with the movement of the toy over the supporting surface.

References Citediinsthfitifile of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 389,325 Seery Sept. 11, 1888 FOREIGN PATENTS 423,935 Germany Jan. 19, 1926 

